When Will Cavs Play A Complete Game?

This playoff season for the Cleveland Cavaliers is becoming very frustrating to watch. Outside of Game 1 of the first round series against the Toronto Raptors, Kenny Atkinson’s squad hasn’t played a complete good game.

They won Game 2 despite not playing well and were victorious in Game 5 because Dennis Schroder willed them to a triumph in the fourth quarter and won Game 7 because Jarrett Allen had an epic third quarter. They simply have not played well, not at the level a team wanting to make a deep run in the playoffs should be.

Another maddening trend is the falling behind early. In Tuesday night’s loss in Game 1 against Detroit, they fell behind by 16 after the first quarter, trailing 37-21.

Despite all that and a slew of turnovers, James Harden being the main culprit in that area, the Cavaliers fought back and tied the game with 5:28 remaining. They had a chance to take the lead after Cade Cunningham missed a three, but Harden’s floater was blocked by Jalen Duren at 5:01 left.

By the way, we read a lot of criticism of Harden, some of it justified, but to us, without the trade, Toronto wins the series. The small backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland get eaten up by the Raptors’ length.

After Harden’s shot was blocked, Cunningham drove to the basket twice in a row and found Duren for a pair of dunks, and then after Evan Mobley missed an ill-advised three, he dunked again and with three minutes left, the Cavs were down six.

We don’t like to blame coaches too much, but there are definitely things to question. Atkinson allowed Jarrett Allen to pick up his third foul in the first quarter, so he played just six minutes in the first half. However, he only played 12 minutes in the second half and fouls weren’t an issue then.

The Cavs need Allen available because at least in Game 1, Evan Mobley seemed to be not strong enough to guard Duren. Again, the lack of size, in this case, bulk is a problem.

We understand Dean Wade is an excellent defender and a darling of the +/- crowd, but we are sorry, but when he’s on the court, Cleveland is playing with four offensive players. He played 27 minutes and took three shots, a tip in, and two threes. As for being a “connector”, he had just one assist.

In 200 minutes of play in this post-season, Wade has taken 42 shots, 29 of them threes, and has just five assists. It’s not that he can’t shoot, it’s that he refuses. And that puts a burden on Donovan Mitchell and Harden, who face double teams because opponents know Wade is not an offensive threat.

By contrast, Jaylon Tyson, who is also a solid defender, who can also pass and score, has played just 127 minutes, taken as many shots as Wade, and has 16 assists.

It’s only one game, that’s what we keep telling ourselves, but this is the playoffs, and a team can’t expect to win playing in spurts. They must be able to play well for an extended period.

Just when are the Cavaliers going to play with some force and urgency? That’s the big question going forward. They have to win one game in Detroit. Tonight, would be a good time to do so.

Raptors Bringing Physicality. Can Cavs Answer It?

To quote the great Jim Nantz, “it’s a tradition like any other”. Nantz, of course, is talking about The Masters, but we could use the same line to describe the performance of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their series against the Toronto Raptors.

It started with the first-round loss to the New York Knicks four years ago, when the Knicks started playing a physical brand, some might say, playoff brand of basketball and the wine and gold just never matched it.

Opponents play with force, a physicality, and the Cavaliers simply don’t match it. And that’s what has happened up north, and the two teams come back to Cleveland with the series tied at two games apiece.

To be it simply, Scottie Barnes bullied the Cavs in the two games in Toronto and Kenny Atkinson’s crew hasn’t answered back. Following Friday’s game three loss, Atkinson switched Dean Wade on to Barnes, moving Evan Mobley to Brandon Ingram, and to some extent it worked, they held the Raptors to 93 points, and the two Toronto forwards shot 12 of 37 from the floor.

But Barnes got to the line 14 times, had nine rebounds and six assists. Wade and Mobley were just 7 of 16 from the floor, and the latter had nine rebounds.

Barnes is attacking and the Cavaliers haven’t seemed to have challenged him all that much. Conversely, especially in game four, the outside shot wasn’t falling for Cleveland, yet they kept hoisting the three, taking 40 of their 87 shots from beyond the arc. They made just 10.

The Cavs looked to take control of the game in the middle of the second, third, and fourth quarters, only to see the Raptors close each time. In the second quarter, Cleveland led by seven (33-26) with 1:40 remaining, only to see Toronto close the half on a 12-3 run.

In that quarter, Dennis Schroder and James Harden started taking the ball to the basket and combined for 11 of the team’s 19 points, going 5 of 9 from the field. The rest of the team went 3 for 14.

Cleveland led 56-48 with 3:53 remaining in quarter three only to see the Raptors go on a 12-2 spurt to lead after three 60-58.

And of course, in the fourth quarter they had an eight-point lead at 84-76 with 4:55 on the clock, but the Raptors closed the game on a 17-5 run.

We hate to blame a coach, but we have to wonder what Sam Merrill is giving the Cavs, especially if he isn’t making shots. He did make 3 of 7 on Sunday, but prior was 3 for 10 in the series. And in game four, didn’t have a rebound or an assist.

In the playoffs, we think you need more all-around players. We felt down the stretch the Cavs needed someone else who could take the ball to the basket. Jaylon Tyson is willing to do that and he’s also a stronger rebounder and defender than Merrill.

This is the playoffs. The physical play is enhanced. As for the rotations, the coaching staff needs to go with the hot hand(s). Thomas Bryant needs to play if for no other reason than he’s a big body. Atkinson seems to have gone away from Keon Ellis, who hasn’t done much, but Schroder should get more time. There is no reason he should have played less than Merrill.

We understand Harden is taking a lot of heat nationally, but to us, it’s clear Mobley has to step up from both a physical standpoint and be more aggressive offensively. And Wade needs to shoot if Toronto is ignoring him.

They are doubling the guards and several times Wade took the ball into the paint from the wing, then turned around and passed the ball back outside. He has to be more aggressive offensively.

The Cavaliers can still win this series and really must win the series. They didn’t get Harden to lose in round one. But they have to be more physical.

What we don’t know is are they capable of doing that.

Cavs Strategy This Week Is Sound. Better To Be Healthy

History does repeat itself, right?

A couple of years ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were involved in a close race for the second through eighth spots in the Eastern Conference standings. With a couple of games to go, the Cavs’ first round opponent could have been Orlando, a young team getting to the playoffs for the first time as a group, Indiana, Philadelphia, or Miami, with their famous culture.

They could have moved up to second place in the conference standing in the last couple weeks of the season, meaning possibly having home court advantage for the second round, but kind of decided they wanted to play the Magic, which indeed happened, in the first round.

At the time (and maybe still is the case), outside of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, the Cavaliers weren’t very big, and Orlando had Paolo Banchero, Franz and Mo Wagner, and Jonathan Isaac. We weren’t thrilled by Cavs’ choice to play them, even with their inexperience.

It almost came back to bite them in the rear end, when the young, long, and athletic Magic took J.B. Bickerstaff’s team to seven games, and when Orlando led the last game by ten points at halftime, it looked very much like the organization made a bad call.

But Donovan Mitchell scored 24 second half points and the Cavs rallied to advance to the conference semifinals where they lost to the eventual champion Celtics in five games.

It looks like the wine and gold are doing the same thing this year or maybe not. It’s a weird circumstance for Kenny Atkinson’s squad.

Yes, Cleveland is just a game behind the New York Knicks for third place in the conference standings, which if all of the higher seeds win would mean a second-round match up against the Celtics, rather than taking on the top seed Detroit Pistons in the semis.

The Pistons have had a great season with 57 wins to date, but the Cavs have played them tough in two matchups a few weeks ago, despite playing without Donovan Mitchell in both contests.

On the other hand, the Cavaliers are in the midst of a pair of games against the team that could very well be their first-round opponent in the Atlanta Hawks. In last night’s win, Atkinson played his usual rotation. In fact, he kind of shortened it, albeit with Tyson out.

The last two games will probably be a different story. Cleveland hasn’t been healthy all year and now isn’t an exception. Jaylon Tyson and Dean Wade, who should both be in the playoff rotation haven’t played in a couple of weeks. Allen is battling tendonitis in his knee, so some time off would benefit him. Mitchell has an ankle sprain which kept him out of Monday’s game in Memphis.

And James Harden is 37 years old and could use some time off to get ready for the playoffs.

Playing Atlanta twice a week before having to play them possibly seven times in the next two weeks, it serves the Cavs no purpose whatsoever other than to be the blandest team to ever play. Why show them anything on either side of the ball.

We are sure we will see some of the primary players in the three remaining games just to keep them in game shape but even if some people are painting this as the Cavs picking their opponent in the first two rounds, it is really more about making sure the best players are the healthiest heading into the playoffs.

Besides, when you get past the first round of the post-season, all the teams are good. The Washington Wizards aren’t getting a bye into the tournament.

After a season filled with injuries, that’s just being smart.

Cavs’ Playoff Run? Your Guess Is As Good As Ours.

We were asked the other day what we thought the playoffs will hold for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently sit with the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference with just five games remaining.

Our answer was not a cop out, although it sounds like it was. The reply was we can see Kenny Atkinson’s squad winning the East and getting to the NBA Finals. And we can also say them losing in the first round to Atlanta, Philadelphia, or Toronto, three possible opponents in the opening round.

To be completely honest, when we look at basketball, we first think about defensive matchups. Why? Because pretty much every player in the NBA can score. That’s why they are in the league. We have watched the wine and gold over the last month and don’t see a lot of good things defensively.

They seem to play effectively on that end of the floor in spurts. The last four games, after getting beat at home by Miami, they have played well. Will they have more attention to detail in the playoffs? You would hope so.

But we can definitively say the Cavaliers will play good defense when the playoffs start in two weeks? We just don’t know.

When Koby Altman traded for James Harden, we wrote that we guess if the Cavs were going to have a ball dominant guard who doesn’t play much defense, they might as well get a bigger one, which Harden is. The veteran can stand his ground if he is taken into the post.

And what we fear most (and as always) is Cleveland’s lack of size, particularly at the wings, and the lack of size depth up front.

We know the Cavs have Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley at the #4 and #5 spots. There is no problem there. But, they only have one other big man to protect the rim, Thomas Bryant.

Many in the Cleveland hoops media will point out Dean Wade, who is an excellent wing defender. He’s also missed 18 games since the beginning of 2026 (Cavs have played 40) and hasn’t been super durable in his career.

And offensively, let’s just say he’s an unwilling participant. We feel that opponents are going to make Wade play offense in the playoffs by using his man to double on others, namely Donovan Mitchell and Harden.

If Wade does start, the Cavs will match up well in the starting lineup, going 6’3″ (Mitchell), 6’5″ (Harden), 6’9″ (Wade), 6’11” (Mobley) and 6’9″ (Allen).

After Bryant, who is the sub for Allen/Mobley, who is the next biggest Cavaliers in Atkinson’s rotation? Jaylon Tyson at 6’6″? 6’5″ Max Strus? Sam Merrill and Keon Ellis at 6’4″?

And if Wade is played off the court, Atkinson will have to put a smaller wing, although a more offensive minded one in his spot.

That a worry if the Cavs go against a team where they have wings around 6’7″ or 6’8″ like Boston. Or Toronto with Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes, both 6’8″.

Or Philadelphia with Paul George and Kelly Oubre, both 6’8″.

Strus and Tyson have some bulk. We have loved the defensive impact in the passing lanes Ellis has made, he’s amazing, but he is slightly built. And we can’t get it out of our heads watching Jaylin Brown from the Celtics bullying Ellis into the paint and shooting over him with his 3″ advantage.

Can the Cavs overcome this defensive issue? Sure, they have two great offensive players in Mitchell and Harden, capable of taking over a game. But that puts a tremendous burden on both.

That’s why the playoffs will be fascinating. We can’t wait to see how it plays out.

Folks Don’t Want To Trade Jarrett Allen Now

Ever since the Cavs drafted Evan Mobley, there have been a segment of fans, usually younger ones, who wanted to trade Jarrett Allen. The logic being you can’t have two big men that cannot shoot from outside.

Part of this is the league has gone three point happy, among fans and players alike. We watch the end of many NBA games and are convinced players can’t help themselves. They’ve been playing the same style for so many years now, it has become a reflex action to hoist a three, even if there team is ahead by say six with under two minutes to play.

The smart play would be to take a little time off the clock and get a shot with a better than 50/50 chance of going in.

Anyway, back to the Cavs and Allen. So, the hope was Mobley could develop a reliable three point shot and that would solve the problem. But after two years of being in the 37% range (the first year with limited attempts, last season he averaged taking three per game), the reigning Defensive Player of the Year has dropped to 30%.

We always figured having the two bigs could work. You can stagger their minutes, and you can also space them better. Run sets with Mobley at the high post and Allen on the opposite low post. With the three-point shooters the Cavs have we don’t think doubling the post would be a problem, nor do many teams do that anymore anyway.

Allen has had a career renaissance over the last couple of months and has been even better since the trade for James Harden at the deadline.

Since February 1st, Allen has played in 14 games (he just missed 10 in a row with tendonitis in the knee) and have averaging 20.8 points per game on 66% shooting and has grabbed over 10 rebounds per contest.

And since we have talked about the lack of size on the roster, when Allen is out of the lineup it forces more minutes for Thomas Bryant and Dean Wade has to play minutes at power forward, thus Kenny Atkinson loses his biggest wing defender.

With Harden on the roster, there has been a resurgence for both starting big men, mainly because Harden is such a tremendous passer, particularly in the pick-and-roll game, he gets Allen and Mobley the ball going downhill most of the time.

As for those fans who didn’t think it would work, we believe they only look at the offensive side of the floor. We have seen that in discussions about Darius Garland. Many fans want to look at his gaudy offensive numbers, while ignoring that he is a liability defensively.

(And yes, we know Harden isn’t a lockdown defender either, but he’s also 6’5″ and can hold his own if being posted up)

With both bigs on the floor, it allows Allen to be the rim protector and Mobley to play more on the perimeter and the Cavs will need that in the playoffs, especially if the play a team with size on the wings.

There is room for teams to play differently and still win. The defending champs, Oklahoma City, play a different style than does Boston, and the Knicks and Pistons play a very physical style of basketball. It doesn’t have to be the free-flowing shooting threes game.

For example, since Harden came aboard, Cleveland has played at a much slower pace. And if they are advancing through the playoffs, no one is going to care.

Atkinson Still Experimenting As The Season Winds Down.

Even though the NBA playoffs are about a month away from beginning, we still think the Cleveland Cavaliers’ coach Kenny Atkinson is still trying to figure out things.

And it will probably continue because it appears Max Strus will be back today for the Cavs as they complete their home and home set against the Dallas Mavericks, so playing time will have to be adjusted once again.

Why do we think Atkinson is still taking different looks at different players? In Wednesday’s loss to Orlando on the road, the Cavs’ defense was terrible all night.

The Magic shot 52% from the floor and Desmond Bane, a burly 6’6″ guard bullied Cleveland for 35 points, while forwards Paolo Banchero and Tristan DeSilva scored 25 and 23 points each. Moreover, Orlando looked like they could get any shot they wanted when they wanted it.

In his post-game press conference, Atkinson bemoaned the defensive effort by his team. The coach rarely sugarcoats a lot in these talks, a refreshing alternative to other coaches/managers in Cleveland. However, in looking at the box score, particularly the minutes played column, reveals our theory.

We believe Cleveland’s best perimeter defender is second year player Jaylon Tyson. At his size (6’6″) and physicality, he would have done a solid job holding Bane in check. He did a very good job on Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, a league MVP candidate when the two teams met twice a few weeks ago. He played only 18 minutes in Orlando.

Dean Wade, probably the Cavs’ best wing defender over 6’7″, and someone who could have made things more difficult for either Banchero or DeSilva, also played just 20 minutes. Although we have issues with Wade and his hesitancy on the offensive end, he is a solid defensive player.

Right now, we think Atkinson and the coaching staff are seeing what they have in Keon Ellis, who struggled handling Jaylen Brown in the loss to Boston last week. It seemed Ellis was told to look for his shot more following that contest and since has scored 52 points in the last three games, making 12 of 20 three-point shots.

He’s a 41% shooter from distance in his career.

Ellis is a disruptive force on the defensive end; he gets his hands on more passes that we can remember with the Cavs in recent memory, and no doubt, we will get time in the playoffs.

When Jarrett Allen is healthy, Atkinson has been using Wade at the #3 to start with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Allen. We understand why, but we would make a change.

We would start Tyson, because we would like to see his physicality on the floor right from the beginning. The Cavs have a reputation as being a finesse team, and having Tyson out there would provide a bit more force from the beginning of the game.

We believe he’s that important to this team.

Plus, with the shortage of size beyond Allen and Mobley, bringing Wade off the bench would allow the second unit to have a little more height. Right now, there are a lot of Thomas Bryant and basically four guards playing together. Having Wade and Bryant out there together should give the Cavs better rebounding.

And now, the coaching staff will have to integrate Strus, another player who brings toughness to the mix. This is the time to see what works and what doesn’t and seeing if it works against teams like Dallas or Chicago, or New Orleans isn’t optimal.

We doubt Atkinson will jeopardize home court advantage in the first round, but he wants his team ready when the playoffs come around. No problem with that.

Not Every Cavs’ Loss Means They Aren’t A Good Team

We are getting to the point in the season where every loss for the Cleveland Cavaliers is viewed as a referendum on Kenny Atkinson’s squad. So, we expected to hear criticism after Sunday’s 109-98 loss to Boston at Rocket Arena.

The Cavs were pretty healthy, missing only starting center Jarrett Allen, and yes, we know Boston is ahead of Cleveland in the standings, currently the #2 seed in the East, and the wine and gold is now four games behind the Celtics, meaning it will be tough to pass them.

They do remain just a half game behind the #3 seed New York Knicks.

We hate to fall on the “it’s a make or miss league” argument, but the Cavaliers shot 40.7% from the field and just 29% from long distance, compared to Boston’s 39.5% accuracy from three. But we would say it is doubtful the Cavs will shoot that poorly the next time the two teams meet.

Some folks jumped on Atkinson’s comments after the game that the Celtics are a bad matchup for his team. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t think the Cavs can beat Bostom in a seven-game series, it simply means he and his staff will have to play a different way than they are accustomed in order to win.

Remember, in the regular season, teams do what they do best. Because they are playing another team in a day or two, you do your best to take away a strength or take advantage of a weakness, but it’s not something that’s practiced. When they meet in a playoff series, there is more of an emphasis on taking away what the opponent tries to do.

However, one thing that concerns us about a Cleveland/Boston matchup is the size of the Celts’ two best players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The former is 6’7″ and the latter is 6’8″, and the wine and gold don’t have a lot of wing defenders with size.

This is nothing new, we have brought this up many times.

Keon Ellis is a good defensive player. He’s also 6’4″. We watched Brown, guarded by Ellis, get to the elbow repeatedly in the third quarter and make 15-to-18-foot jump shots over Ellis, because he has a three inch height advantage.

In the playoffs, Atkinson can put Dean Wade, a 6’9″ wing defender on Brown, but does that force Evan Mobley on Tatum? We have no doubt Mobley, last year’s Defensive Player of the Year, can handle Tatum, but that matchup takes Mobley away from the rim. Note: He blocked three shots on Sunday.

That’s the challenge for Atkinson and his coaches.

Maybe the alternative is to use Jaylon Tyson (6’6″) on Brown and put Wade on Tatum come playoff time, which would mean Ellis guards Derrick White, which might be a better matchup.

The Cavs got very little from players who have done well since the All-Star break. Sam Merrill was 1 of 7 from three and had five points. Ellis took just one shot. Dennis Schroder made just one of his four shots and scored just two points and had two assists.

Meanwhile, Boston’s role players had big games. Payton Pritchard had 18 points, Sam Hauser made five threes, Baylor Scheierman had 16 points and made 4 of 6 threes. They won despite White making only 2 of 9 from the floor, although he did have seven boards and five assists.

We will remind you what we said before this season starts and we still stand beside the comment–the only thing that matters to the Cavs is what happens in the playoffs. The big evaluation on this group will come after the post-season.

Cavs Loss To OKC Wasn’t A Big Deal Here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost Sunday to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and as people do in northeast Ohio, there was some freaking out.

We know the Thunder were missing two starters in MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams and two key reserves in Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell, so that played into the narrative from some that the Cavs failed a big test.

We said after the game we weren’t concerned about the loss on the road, the third game in four nights, but rather the bigger tests for Kenny Atkinson’s group would be Tuesday’s game against the Knicks would be more important as would the upcoming contest against the Pistons and the Celtics.

One reason is the way of the NBA. In the regular season, teams do what they do best and sometimes it doesn’t match up well with the opponent. The Thunder play very physically and in our opinion have adopted the style of the Pat Riley Knicks from the 90’s and the Warriors of the previous decade. That is, foul pretty much on every possession and figure the referees aren’t going to call them all.

Watch Lu Dort and Caruso defensively if you don’t believe us.

So, on Sunday, the Cavs didn’t adjust to this physicality until about the last three minutes of the first quarter and after that, played pretty well.

In a playoff situation, teams decide to react to what the opponent does well. Remember, last year the Thunder had to win two game sevens, one against Denver and the other in The Finals against Indiana, who lost their best player during the second quarter of the deciding game.

The point is the Cavs see the teams in the Western Conference so infrequently, it is hard to get a gauge on how they would handle being in a best-of-seven series. Against the East, these teams meet three or four times per season and play in the playoffs much more frequently, so you can see what those teams want to do on a more regular basis.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Cavaliers without some injury issues.

Now James Harden suffered a non-displaced fracture in his thumb, and it likely to miss some time, possibly a couple of weeks, meaning he will not be in there when Cleveland plays Detroit and Boston.

Harden has shown remarkable durability in his career so who knows how much time he will really miss.

And Atkinson did say Max Strus is getting closer to returning which will throw another player into the rotation, and another 6’5″ player at that. Now, the coach has these players in that height range: Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, Harden, Keon Ellis, and Strus.

With Strus missing the first 60 games or so, it’s tough to imagine he will be a significant factor in the post-season.

What may happen is the Cavs will use different rotations depending on the opponent, meaning players will get differing amounts of playing time on a per game basis.

That means plenty of questions about why a certain player didn’t get minutes on a certain night.

Atkinson is starting Dean Wade at small forward. It worked very well against the Knicks, but it didn’t work against the Thunder. So, he might play 25 minutes one night and five the next.

After this tough stretch, the schedule eases up quite a bit for the rest of the season, which likely will mean some games off for Donovan Mitchell, and perhaps some others. And remember, the Cavaliers are already pretty deep.

Again, how the Cavaliers do against the Pistons and Celtics are far more important than what happened last Sunday. No one wants to lose, but Cleveland wasn’t going to end the year on a 35 game winning streak.

Tough Stretch Out Of The Break Should Show Cavs’ Progress After Deals

Certainly, there is a lot of optimism about the Cleveland Cavaliers after the trading deadline when Koby Altman swapped Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and Lonzo Ball for James Harden, Dennis Schroder, and Keon Ellis.

The Cavs have won 10 of their last 11 games and although they sit in the #4 position in the Eastern Conference, they are just a game and a half out of the #2 spot.

We don’t want to pour cold water on everyone, but of the three wins since Harden arrived, Cleveland has defeated the Kings, who have the worst record in the West, and the Wizards, who have the worst mark in the East.

Yes, winning in Denver was a quality win, we are not minimizing that. But the real test is coming for this group.

It has been documented the schedule for the wine and gold is considerably easier down the stretch, one of the lightest slates in the Association, but the new roster will be test coming out of the All Star break.

After a home game tonight against Brooklyn, the Cavs hit the road for games against the red-hot Charlotte Hornets and the defending champs in Oklahoma City. Charlotte is currently a “play-in” team, and the Thunder came into town on MLK Day and waxed Kenny Atkinson’s crew 136-104.

The Knicks, currently the third seed in the East, comes to town on Tuesday, and the Cavaliers end February with a game in Detroit, and after another home game with the Nets, have a homestand against the Pistons, Celtics, and 76ers.

We will get a much better evaluation on all the roster moves after this stretch.

And you would think that in this stretch of games, Evan Mobley should be back on the floor, so we can finally see how Harden affects him on the offensive end. We have already seen how Jarrett Allen has been much more of a scorer, not only with Harden, but on the western swing.

Remember the 40 point, 17 rebound game against Portland came before the trades took place.

With Mobley back, another thing to watch is how Atkinson will handle playing time. Right now, he is basically starting with Allen and four guards, which makes a lot of minutes available for the glut of wings on the roster.

We would think when Mobley is back in the starting lineup, Jaylon Tyson will start at the #3, with Sam Merrill and Dean Wade (when he returns) coming off the bench. But the coach might want Tyson coming off the bench and have Merrill’s shooting space the floor for Donovan Mitchell, Harden and the big men.

And doing this would make Wade the backup for Allen and Mobley up front. If Atkinson wanted to go big, he can always use Wade at the #3 as well, he has shown he can defend on the perimeter.

Also, Nae’Qwan Tomlin should stay in the rotation. His energy and length have earned being on the floor.

The minutes for the wings will likely work itself out before the end of the season and Atkinson will have a better idea of his rotation for the playoffs, but in the meantime, players like Merrill and Craig Porter Jr. will be on trial for earning time on the floor.

Being deep is a good thing overall though, and hopefully the injuries are behind the Cavs so Atkinson will have a tough decision when the playoffs start.

Early Return On Deals Very Good For Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing much better over the last month, winning 10 of their last 11 and just coming home from a tough trip out west where they dropped the first game in Phoenix and then ripped off four straight wins.

Certainly, all of the attention is on James Harden because let’s face it, no matter how you feel about his style of play, he is a former MVP and was named as one of the 75 greatest players in the league’s history.

But this span of better play started before Koby Altman swapped out Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and Lonzo Ball. We could also be a little snarky and remind people it kind of started when Garland got hurt. They won the game he was injured to raise their record to 23-19, so the Cavs are 10-2 since.

We still worry about the lack of height on the current roster, but we also understand it is unfair to judge them now because Evan Mobley, the Cavs’ starting power forward, is out, and so is Dean Wade, who at 6’9″ can play both inside and outside.

But there is no question Koby Altman improved the Cavaliers’ defense on the perimeter with the acquisition of Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. Although the former is 6’1″, Schroder is a pest defensively, picking up opponents in the backcourt and making his man work to bring the ball up.

Ellis is long and seems to have good anticipation skills in the passing lanes.

As for the big trade, we have no questions about James Harden’s ability to score. The guy can put the ball in the basket. He’s a 24.1 point scorer for his career and is coming up on the 29000th point in the NBA soon and is 730 points away from moving in the top ten all-time.

We know about his playoff failures too, but for this current team, when Mobley comes back, he’s probably the third best player, so the burden isn’t on him like in the past.

We also know that at some point he is going to probably force his way out of town, but we choose to look at the situation as how it affects the Cavaliers this season.

An aspect that is overlooked about Harden is his passing ability. He is also 12th all-time in assists, and he is particularly adept at making passes into the post. Jarrett Allen has scored 29 and 22 points in the two games Harden has played, and no doubt he will aid Mobley when he is healthy.

Harden isn’t a force on the defensive end, but at his size we can hold his own if someone tries to post him up, but he never was a decent defender and at 36, he’s not getting better. But really, the player he was dealt for wasn’t proficient on that end either.

Now, Kenny Atkinson has to figure out who is going to lose time with the three newcomers in uniform. There is no question there is a glut at guard and at small forward. In the last two games, he’s gotten around this by playing four guards, but that doesn’t help the rebounding.

When Mobley and Wade get back, that’s when he will have to make an adjustment. Our guess is Sam Merrill becomes more of a specialist, a sniper if you will, and Craig Porter Jr. will have a lesser role because Schroder and Ellis do what he provided.

Yes, things look good right now, but one thing hasn’t changed for the Cavaliers. Nothing really matters until the playoffs. They need to get to at least the conference finals. At least.